The Price of Invisibility
by stardust-352
Summary: A drawing is stolen and it's up to Fawkes and Hobbes to find it
1. How I Got Along

1 The Price For Invisibility  
  
1.1 Chapter 1  
  
It was a sunny day. I sat sleepily in the old white van, waiting for my partner who is still in the fastfood restaurant. Sigh…what's taking him so long? I switched on the radio and sat back. They're broadcasting the oldies…boring. I haven't been able to sleep at all last night all because of that wretched tap which was dripping the whole time. Now, my eyelids felt so heavy. As I vow to have the tap fixed as soon as possible, I shut my eyes, hoping to rest them for a second or two.  
  
"Hey, Darien! Open up…DARIEN!!!" I awoke and looked around. My partner is back and he's banging at the door. By the look on his face, he's been doing that for quite some time. I craned my neck to see what he has bought, but failed. My stomach growled and at last, I unlocked the doors to let him in. "Hamburgers and fries?" I asked as my partner climbed in. The smell of food filled the entire space in our vehicle, making my mouth water. "Why don't you see for yourself?" replied my partner irritably, flinging the paper bags he's holding to me. Yes…I'm correct, hamburgers and fries…. yum…yum…Without hesitation, I sank my teeth into the still hot hamburger. "Hey, you had insomnia? Or were you partying all night yesterday?" my partner asked. "Hmm…?" I asked through a mouthful of hamburger, not knowing what he really meant. "Do you have any idea how long I banged at the door?" he asked. "Ah, what do you want it in? Hours? Minutes? Seconds?" I joked. My partner's eyes narrowed and I know I'm starting to get into his nerves. I chuckled and bit into my hamburger. "Okay, okay. My tap's been leaking again so I spent the whole night listening to its marvelous melody," I said munching, ketchup all over my hand. "Why don't you fix it then?" said my partner giving me a disgusted look. "Well, the problem is, I haven't the slightest idea how to fix it but fortunately I know someone who does…" I replied giving my partner a thoughtful glance. "Now, if you've totally forgotten, I fixed your toilet once and what did I get in return?" he asked. "Wet shirt, wet trousers and wet underwear…" I offered. My partner rolled his eyes. Of course I remembered the event. I even had a photo of him all wet and miserable, I recalled, trying to suppress a giggle. He almost succeeded in killing me when I put the photo up on the notice board at our office, the Agency.  
  
Opps…let me introduce myself first before I carry on with the rest of the story. By now you must have figured out my name, right? It's Darien. Darien Fawkes. I have dark, brown hair, coffee brown eyes and an attractive smile to match my handsome face (Hey, it's true. I'm not trying to exaggerate here. You should see how the ladies stare at me at coffee shops near my place) What's so special about me? Well, you wouldn't believe it but I can be invisible in a split second. Okay, here's how it works. There's this stuff called Quicksilver. Some scientists made it into a synthetic gland and there's where I come in. See, I was facing life in prison for a crime I didn't commit and they were looking for a human experiment. So, we made a deal, they put the gland in my brain, I walk free. I was supposedly a military weapon but then the government decided to dump me under the Official's care, making me a Federal Agent. But being invisible has its shortcomings too. Besides making me undetectable to the naked eye, this gland also degrades my higher brain functions, unleashing my dark impulses and pushing me towards insanity. A counteragent, administered on a frequent basis by my Keeper can only partially and temporarily suppress the inevitable destruction of my mind. Consequently, I'm stuck with an uneasy deal: the counteragent in return for serving a clandestine government agency as a secret operative. In spite of that, it isn't so bad if you look at it in a different perspective and when you're used to it. It's been half a year I'm working for the Official and am starting to like my job.  
  
I finished the last fry and licked my fingers, trying to ignore my partner. "You're disgusting!" he said, as I wiped my hands onto my trousers. "Hobbes, I do my own laundry so don't' worry," I said, putting on my sunglasses.  
  
That's Hobbes. Bobby Hobbes, my partner. He's a former FBI agent but since the department he worked in closed down, he was transferred here to make sure I follow the rules made by our boss, the Official. Bobby has light brown hair, steel gray eyes and is usually seen in what he called his detective jacket. If he ever washed it before was a question I've asked myself for over a million times. He's loyal, determined and sometimes, a nosy person. I can't stand him when he's sneaking around, trying to follow me wherever I go. I know it's he's job to see to it that I didn't break any rules but…come on, I'm the invisible guy and he's not. Anyway, I have an acute sense of sight.  
  
"Ready to head back to the Agency?" asked Hobbes. I simply nodded and put on my seatbelts. Sigh…back to the Agency means back to work and that's not my cup of tea. After about ten minutes, we arrived at the Agency and stepped rather reluctantly into the Official's office. The Official was already there, flipping through a large stack of documents. He looked up and stared at us for a moment before starting. "You're one minute and 23 seconds late," he said trying to give me the can-you-please-explain-why look. "Yes, I know, I know. So what's the case for today?" I asked, collapsing into an office chair in front of the Official's massive desk and putting my feet on his table. The Official look annoyed and I took in the joy of him glancing at my newly polished shoes. He took out a piece of paper from the stack he's holding and placed it on his desk. "A famous painting is found to be missing after just 24 hours it has been purchased by Harold Mishinger, a millionaire, from the Art Gallery Room of Oakwood Manor auction. Your job is to find out who stole the painting and where it is hidden" "What does the painting look like?" Hobbes asked, sitting down on the only chair remaining in the office. "It's the symbolic figure of Liberty that led the France to victory under the Tricolor, painted by Delacroix" replied the Official, giving each of us a photocopied picture of the painting. I look at the picture, a beautiful woman was holding a flag in what looked like a war scene and a young boy was running beside her. She looked so calm even in the midst of fear and fury. 'The original painting must be a chef d'oeuvre', I thought. "Alright, let's get to the victim's house to question him then," I can't wait to visit a millionaire's home. "First, get your shot then you can go there," the Official informed. "Yeah, how can I ever forget that…" I said glumly.  
  
Hobbes and I exited the office but we stopped at the door. "Go on, I give you the honor to," I said. "Nah, you can do it. You've always done it," Hobbes protested.  
  
"You do it,"  
  
"No, you do it,"  
  
"No, you,"  
  
"Wait, wait, I've got a better idea. Let's both do it,"  
  
"Hey, great idea,"  
  
"Okay?"  
  
"Okay,"  
  
"One, two, three…."  
  
Both of us pushed the office door with all our might and slammed it shut which gain us a curse from the Official. 'One day, that door would surely fall out of its hinges,' I thought grinning. Next, we headed toward the lab.  
  
We reached a high security door, the type you see in a space ship on TV that opens upwards, and slide the pass card in the slot. The door opened with a whoosh. Keeper was standing with her back towards us and peering into a microscope. I winked at Bobby and quicksilvered my entire body. I crept towards the Keeper and readied to shout into her ear when she turned around and glared at me. "Just because I can't see you, does mean I can't hear you creeping up behind me," she said, pointing a scalpel at what she think is my nose. I laughed and shed my quicksilver, becoming visible again. "Aww, you're no fun," I said backing away as she threatened to dig my eyes out with the scalpel. "I've learned to keep my ears and eyes open while working with you guy…" Keeper said, retrieving a small bottle with silver-blue liquid in it and a syringe from a glass refrigerator. "Now you know what to do, don't you?" she said as she drew the liquid from the bottle with the syringe. I sighed and dropped onto what I liked to call the counteragent chair, which looks awfully similar to a dentist's chair. Keeper tapped the syringe to let the bubbles out and gently slide it into a vein in my arm. I tried to look relaxed but failed…I really hate this. 


	2. The Man In a Black Coat

1.1 Chapter 2  
  
"Wow, sunny day, out at a beach and I'm stuck with a job of busting people who steal paintings," I said as Bobby and I walked along the beach to meet the millionaire who's on a holiday…what a lucky guy. The sun was high up in the sky, giving us the usual hot summer beams, seagulls called to each other as they flew around looking for food and the calming sound of waves hitting the sandy beach. I kicked the warm sand and watched as they flew up. Oh uh…a man stood in front of me glaring. His black coat now sprinkled with tiny grain of sand. I stifled a laugh and tried to walk away.  
  
He caught me by my left shoulder and turned me around to face him again. 'Bad…bad…things are getting really bad,' I thought eyeing his well- built form. His hand tightened its grip. "Emm…hi…nice coat…err…got a lot of sand though…" I said trying my very hardest not to laugh, brushing some of the sand off his coat. Then suddenly, Bobby burst out laughing making me laugh as well…I laughed so hard my sides ached. The man scowled as I wriggled out of his grip. Bobby and I ran with all our might, hoping to get away. "Hey, the two of you!!! Stop right there!" the man called. Of course, we did just the opposite. Soon we reached a small, stall and hid behind it. I peeped just enough to see the man run right pass us. "Whew, that was a close one," Bobby said when I told him what I saw. We laughed.  
  
"You've got to remind me not to kick sand when a man wearing a black coat is around,"  
  
"Yeah, certainly,"  
  
"Why is he wearing a coat anyway? Come on we're at the beach here,"  
  
"Well do you think he's…."  
  
"Nah, he couldn't be…could he?"  
  
"I hope not…"  
  
We stood up and looked around. The man wasn't anywhere around this side of the beach. I started to worry and wish upon my lucky star that he wasn't the millionaire we're looking for. If he is…he's certainly going to be really mad at us. He'll tell the Official. The Official would lecture us…and the worst part is, I'm never going to get any holidays and he'll deduct my allowance…ARGH!!! My worst nightmare is coming true. We searched frantically for the man.  
  
"Hey, don't you even know how he looks like?" Bobby asked  
  
"Nope not really, do you?" I asked  
  
"No, but I think I've seen him on TV before,"  
  
"What? On the 8 o'clock news?"  
  
"Yeah. So you've seen him too?"  
  
"Sorry, 'cause I only watched the cartoons and perhaps some shows on TV,"  
  
"Have you watched the Power Puff Girls before?"  
  
"Of course. That's my favorite cartoon!"  
  
"Me too. I like Bubbles best."  
  
"Too girlish. I like Blossom better,"  
  
"I never liked her. She's too bossy sometimes,"  
  
"She is not,"  
  
"Is to"  
  
"Is NOT,"  
  
"Is TO,"  
  
"IS NOT  
  
"IS TO,"  
  
…  
  
We went on arguing about cartoons till I suddenly spotted the man with the black coat standing beside a shorter and fatter one, who was sitting in a deckchair, sipping a glass of cold juice. We couldn't decide who among the two of us should be the one to ask them. So we ended up having doing it the old way…stone, scissors and paper.  
  
"OH NOOooo…I lost!!!"  
  
"Yup, you sure did…quick, go and ask them if one of them is the millionaire,"  
  
I grumbled as I walked reluctantly towards the deckchair. Why does it always have to be me? The man sitting down looked pleasant enough but the other was glowering at me with eyes full of hatred. Hey, what have I done anyway? I cleared my throat and tried to ask but no sound came out of my mouth.  
  
"May I help you?" asked the man who was sitting.  
  
"Emm, I…well you see I was looking for they guy called Harold Misshinger…do you…err…by any chance…know him?" yeah I know I'm stammering…who wouldn't with that fellow staring at me like an eagle who spotted his prey.  
  
"Well, you've came to the right person then. I'm Harold Misshinger. You must be Agent Hobbes," he said delightfully. He seems to be searching for us too.  
  
"Ah…ss…sorry...but I'm not Agent Hobbes…I'm Agent Fawkes you see…he's my partner and well, there he is," I said. Hobbes came when he heard his name was mentioned.  
  
"I'm very glad to meet both of you. I believe you came to help solve my problem. Come; let us not waste anymore time. We'll meet at my house. Arnold, usher these two to my car will you?" Harold shook our hands and stood up.  
  
"But sir, they are the ones I told you about just now. Shouldn't we be more careful?" Arnold looked at us suspiciously.  
  
"Now, now, I sure it's all just a misunderstanding. You wouldn't be bothered with such a small matter, would you?" Harold has started walk towards two limousines parked nearby.  
  
"Of course not, sir,"  
  
So we were ushered to one of the massive limousines but before we can enter the vehicle, Arnold forced us to show him our badges. Even when we did show him our badges, he was still doubtful about us but he did nothing, which was a lucky thing. Then, we were driven to the millionaire's mansion.  
  
A/N= Yeah I know this chapter is really short…and I guess the rest would be too cause I'm really busy nowadays. So the next update wouldn't be in perhaps a century…lol…so hope you'd be patient…that's all I've got to blab about…till then, ta..ta.. 


End file.
